Alex Salmond's forward march has been halted

The latest polls all show the Scottish independence campaign losing ground.

Alex Salmond looks on during the Ryder Cup Exhibition Launch at the Scottish Parliament on April 29, 2014 in Edinburgh. Photograph: Getty Images.

Labour MPs might be increasingly anxious about their party's performance in the national polls (today's Populus survey has them a point behind the Tories) but their spirits have been lifted by the latest numbers on Scottish independence. After narrowing for months, the polls have begun to move in the No campaign's favour.

An ICM survey put the Unionist lead up from three points to 12, with the Yes vote falling to its lowest level for eight months (34 per cent), while another by Panelbase (the Yes campaign's pollster of choice) put it up from five points to seven. Across the six main pollsters, the No campaign's average lead now stands at 14 points. The nationalists' forward march has been halted.

With just four months go until the referendum, Alex Salmond can't afford to lose ground at this stage. But losing ground he is. Having failed to lead in a single poll since the campaign began (with the exception of a biased Panelbase survey commissioned by the SNP), the Yes campaign is now trailing badly again. While it's not impossible that this will change before 18 September, it is increasingly unlikely. A narrow defeat might allow the SNP to press for devo max (and even to revisit the independence question at some point) but a defeat it will be.